Arab MKs slurred in Sderot

Teenagers shouted slurs at Arab MKs of the Hadash faction who attended the funeral of a Sderot woman who was killed
by a Qassam rocket on Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses said a group of teenagers, who are not residents of the southern town, shouted racist slurs at the Arab MKs.

Sderot woman killed by Qassam (Photo: AFP)

The three MKs met Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal and then left for the funeral. Hadash leader Mohammad Barakeh said, "Moyal said that Sderot residents are not demanding revenge, they want to live in peace."

Faina was buried in the non-Jewish section of the cemetery, where her husband stood for one hour refusing to leave. Moyal eulogized

her saying: "We didn't have enough time to know you well. But you have become a symbol in this city and children will learn about you and will be brought up to follow your way. Sderot is a city that wants to leave in peace, and no one wants to leave in a situation where a woman who simply wants to wander in the city's streets, is injured. She is not a soldier, not a terrorist, she is a human being in a free state. We will restrain ourselves and bite our lips, but don't interpret this as weakness. We have the will to live in our country.

A local community leader called on Hadash MKs to leave the city. "I don't think you have something to do here, what do you have in Sderot," he told them.

Later he explained: "I don't think these people are welcome at this difficult time, I don't understand why they came here. She was a Sderot resident, they are not related to this place and therefore they were asked not to take part in the funeral."

Barakeh told Ynet: "It was necessary for us to be in Sderot, as we need to make an unequivocal statement against harming citizens. We wanted to say enough to calls for revenge and plans for escalation. We are here to share the city's bereavement and that of the bereaved family. But, at the end of the funeral some teenagers shouted slurs at members of the Hadash faction. Residents were restrained."

The MKs said Sderot's security depends on the security of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and urged the government, "to avoid escalation. Instead of sending more helicopters and tanks which will only worsen the blood cycle, we need to move on to negotiations."